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I'm curious to see what everyone uses with their gants. Spike rifles and Devourers seem like the best choices. Is there even a decent reason to consider spinefists or upgrading to the strangleweb? I'm ready to build my first set in a budding Nid army. I'm expecting to buy atleast another box yet to birth from the eventual Tervigon purchase (glad that's finally coming about) but Idk what to do with the first set. Don't have the codex near me though im sure that would solve some of my questions I'd still like to hear Dakka's consensus on it.

Fleshborers.

Spike Rifles: Useless
Devourers: Good, but too costly for your fragile bugs.
Spinefists: Simply outdone by the Fleshborer.
Strangleweb: Pointless. Really, really pointless.

Leave em be with fleshborer (especially if using tervigons -- thats all they spawn and you will need many of them) OR devourers but understand that makes the unit a glasshammer.

Rest is garbage and one of many bungled messes in the codex.

Spinefist is overcosted trash. You pay a point so you can get a wee bit better against T3 and no difference vs T4. And you lose S4 vs AR10.

Spikerifle is almost as bad. The range could be useful but giving up S4 and paying for it is not worth it usually. Other issue with spikerifle is there's no current bit, you have to make one or aquire ancient models.

Strangleweb is also bad (too costly, too limited in qty available, to weak against most stuff), some small tweaks to the rules and I'd consider it (pinning flamer could be useful for nids) but chance to actually cause a casualty, let alone pin, is bleak.

Stranglewebs are usable on the rare ocassion you drop your gaunts in a spore, playing vs orks/ig/eldar.

Devourers are very good, as they fire a massive number of shots, but they double their points cost so depends on what you like.

Spike rifles are poor, yes you get an increase in range but you lose strength and AP, and have to pay for it.

Spinefists would be okay if they were the same points as fleshborers, as they have pretty much the same damage output. However they cost more, so they're a no too.

Stranglewebs because of their S2 are rubbish, as they are very ineffective against anything stronger than a gretchin.

I like arming them with devourers for a large brood in a spore... It can be quite lethal.

I've only seen devilgants ever used outside of vanilla termagants, and even those are rare

Keep them cheap, they're not really meant to kill much.

Devourers are a truly efficient upgrade. Yes you're doubling the cost of the termagant but you're tripling the number of shots it can fire, as well as increasing the range by 6".

I upgrade my mandatory units of termagants with devourers, and then use a Troop Tervigon to spawn generic 'gants. so of my 100 or so termagant models about 30 are armed with devourers and the rest generic. Running a 3-tervigon list I have in the past spawned so many 'gants that i ran out of models before all my tervigons had rolled doubles.

I miss the days when you could give gaunts barbies and VCs. The 3rd edition mutations rule made for some fun lists, S7 T7 Hivies, GRRRRR!

Fleshborers. Why would I want to spend the points on anything else?

Updated the poll to include the fleshborer. That's what I get for making a poll with out my codex handily available. I agree with the idea that spinefist seem pretty useless on the Gants, but are they any more useful on other units with higher attacks (if I understand them right you get a shot for every attack the model has)

I always run the Fleshborer, Devourers are nice too though. Everything else is trash.

dmthomas7 wrote:Updated the poll to include the fleshborer. That's what I get for making a poll with out my codex handily available. I agree with the idea that spinefist seem pretty useless on the Gants, but are they any more useful on other units with higher attacks (if I understand them right you get a shot for every attack the model has)

They're decent on Raveners. That's about it.

Fleshborers. I want to keep these guys as cheap as can be, so I can spend points on more valuable upgrades, like Toxin sacs on genestealers.

Base weps for gaunts ftw!

I'm currently running 2 Devourer squads, thinking of switching them back to F'Borers, though. Assault 3 is shiny, but 12" range? That's not somewhere I want to stick such a glass cannon unit. :/ So.. I dunno. Will probably shrink them back and use the points for MOAR STEELAS.

Winterkit wrote:I'm currently running 2 Devourer squads, thinking of switching them back to F'Borers, though. Assault 3 is shiny, but 12" range? That's not somewhere I want to stick such a glass cannon unit. :/ So.. I dunno. Will probably shrink them back and use the points for MOAR STEELAS.

Devourers are 18" range. Its a big reason why they are worth taking despite the cost.